What is DNA?

Question 1

Where is mtDNA located?

Answer 1

mitochondria

Question 2

How many copies mtDNA per cell?

Answer 2

-100s to 1000s of copies

Question 3

Mutation rate of mtDNA

Answer 3

-5-10x higher than nDNA

Question 4

How is mtDNA inherited?

Answer 4

-materinally inherited - lineage

Question 5

Statistical method to analyze mtDNA

Answer 5

• counting method - treated as single locus because inherited as one unit
• can’t use product rule

Question 6

mtDNA characteristics

Answer 6

• circular
• double stranded - heavy strand (A/G rich), light strand (C/T rich)
• ~16,569bp
• coding and non-coding reagon
• non-coding region has Displacement(D) loop with 1122bp
• double helix
• HV1,HV2,HV3 - PSs, MPSs, MVRs
• numbering begins on heavy strand on origin of replication

Question 7

Nucleotide bases

Answer 7

4 bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine

• Purine (fused rings): adenine and guanine
• pyrimidines: cytosine and thymine
• pairing: adenine and thymine (2 hydrogen bonds); guanine and cytosine (3 hydrogen bonds)
• sugar phosphate backbone

Question 8

Where is nuclear DNA located?

Answer 8

-23 pairs of chromosomes - autosomes

Question 9

How many copies nDNA per cell?

Answer 9

• 2 copies of each (one from mother and one from father)

Question 10

Statistical method to analyze nDNA

Answer 10

• count number of repeats (highly polymorphic repeating patterns found throughout non-coding regions)
• # repeats varies per person
• combinations of different repeat regions makes unique profile
• 3 repeat motifs: simple, compound, complex